The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear two cases that could impact Special Counsel Jack Smith’s ability to prosecute Donald Trump.
Legal experts say if the Court rules broadly in favor of presidential immunity claims in Trump’s case, it could make Smith’s job much harder or even prevent prosecution.
They are also set to hear a case, Fischer v. U.S., that challenges the application of obstruction laws to the January 6th Capitol riot cases.
“There’s a centrally important case in the Supreme Court where the Court’s going to decide whether the core of Jack Smith’s charges involving obstruction of justice are consistent with Constitution and the law or not,” George Washington University law professor Jeffrey Rosen said.
Experts argue a narrow ruling could call those charges into question as well.
“If they throw those out, that’s going to be a stake in the heart of the Jack Smith case. It won’t prevent it, but it’ll make it much harder to pursue,” Rosen said.
“The Jack Smith timing depends on, first, what the Supreme Court does—is it going to rehear immunity or just uphold the D.C. circuit?” Rosen said.
“But then next month there’s a centrally important case in the Supreme Court where the court’s going to decide whether the core of Jack Smith’s charges involving obstruction of justice are consistent with the Constitution and the law or not,” the report read.
“As far as the effect on the other January 6 cases that have a Section 1512(c)(2) count, nothing will happen at the argument that would affect them,” attorney Fritz Ulrich said. “But we may be able to discern how some of the justices view the statutory language at issue.”
Twenty-four Republican senators have urged the Court to block the Biden administration from using an expansive interpretation of such laws against political opponents.
“The Biden administration’s pursuit of its political opponents must be stopped,” Sen. Tom Cotton said. “Their strained interpretation of the law would criminalize vast swaths of everyday political conduct and violate the First Amendment—which Congress never granted, and no administration should have the power to lock up political opponents for 20 years for merely trying to ‘influence’ Congress.”
The outcome of these cases could define the legal boundaries of prosecuting a former president and set precedents for related cases like those stemming from January 6th.
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